Being stuck in traffic when you’re in a huge rush to
get somewhere in the city could soon be a thing of the past if Boeing gets to
have their say with regards to the future of urban transportation. Their autonomous passenger air vehicle
(PAV) prototype completed a controlled takeoff, hover and landing during its
inaugural flight test. It wasn’t a traditional flight, as it only lasted a
minute, hovering above the runway, but it marked a milestone in the PAV’s
development.
Future flights will focus on forward and wing-bone
flight, as well as the transition between vertical and forward flight modes. The PAV prototype is powered by
an electric propulsion system and has a range of up to 80.47 km. It
measures 9.14 meters long and 8.53 meters wide, and was
designed in a way in which to achieve efficient hover and forward flight.
Aside from the PAV, Boeing NeXt, charged with
leading the company’s urban air mobility efforts, also developed an unmanned
electric cargo air vehicle (CAV), designed to transport up to 226.8
kg. The CAV completed its first indoor test flight last year and will proceed
outdoors sometime this year.
